Recommend to me a gentlemans pocket knife

[Matthew Strongin]

Ahhhh Matt got that Chris Reeve. Mmmm mmmm. You have good taste. Between that and the Benchmade I'd say you are set for life or until you get bored ;)

The collector in me also wants a CRK Inkosi, but between my Mnandi, Sebenza 21 small, Impinda, and Benchmade Valet, it would be absolutely redundant (or even more so than those four already are). There's also the Benchmade Mini Grip that lives with my hiking gear and the pile of fixed blades and Case and Buck folders I inherited from my grandfather. So, yeah, I'm definitely set for life.

[Too Tall]

The collector in me also wants a CRK Inkosi, but between my Mnandi, Sebenza 21 small, Impinda, and Benchmade Valet, it would be absolutely redundant (or even more so than those four already are). There's also the Benchmade Mini Grip that lives with my hiking gear and the pile of fixed blades and Case and Buck folders I inherited from my grandfather. So, yeah, I'm definitely set for life.

But wait, gentlewoman's folding knife for Mrs. Matt?
I've given Mrs. TT old school Case folders at different times.

[Matthew Strongin]

But wait, gentlewoman's folding knife for Mrs. Matt?
I've given Mrs. TT old school Case folders at different times.

Good thinking. I'll get on that.

[dgaddis]

Picked this guy a while back and just now posting it, Spyderco Chaparral. If I were going to have only one knife, this would be it. It's a damn near perfect office worker EDC knife.

• It's small, and doesn't take up much pocket space, especially for a Spyderco, where the spydie hole usually puts a big hump in the blade making it take up quite a bit of volume.
• The half choil is a very effective way to give you a full four finger grip when the knife is open in a small package when closed.
• The carbon fiber over G10 scales look great and have just a bit of texture, enough to make them a little grippy, not enough to shred your pants going in and out of the pocket.
• Deep carry wire pocket clip means it doesn't draw attention to itself in the pocket.
• The blade is the star of the show though. The steel is CTS-XHP which is a very good, tho not amazing, steel. Most importantly the blade is THIN - only 0.08" thick stock with a full flat grind that is nice and thin behind the edge. It's a blade that cuts. So many modern pocket knives have overly thick blades. For normal 'edc' tasks like opening packages and cutting up chicken nuggets for my toddler I don't need an 1/8" thick blade. Simple blade geometry means a thinner blade works better when it comes to cutting...that's all I need my knife to do, I'm not using it as a pry bar or a screw driver. I do not understand why so many people carry a 3" pocket knife that has thicker stock than my 8" chef knife...
• It is a back lock. It has an extra internal stop pin not found in most back locks which helps eliminate any vertical blade play that happens in some. Lockup is super solid and secure.
• Being a back lock, it doesn't flick open, and it doesn't 'drop shut'. But it is easy to open and close one handed, just not as fast as a frame/liner/axis lock type knife - it's not a fidgety knife. But it's also an inherently simple mechanism, and there is beauty in simplicity. The pivot doesn't loosen up over time, there's no springs to break.

They make a few different versions of this knife, all have the same awesome blade. The cheapest is the plastic handled 'light weight' version which is under $100. There's a few expensive titanium scaled versions that are over $200. This one was $130 if my memory is right.

[AngryScientist]

probably 50k beers opened. easily $10k dollars worth of bike parts boxes opened over the year. opened soup last weekend on a day hike. i'd be lost without this one!

knifer.jpg

[j44ke]

Resurrecting this thread, because my wife just got me this. Titanium case, stainless blade. 3.5" blade. Has a locking tab and clip on other side. Can be opened with one hand. Nice!

Update: The blade on this knife is so sharp I have now cut my hands 4 times without realizing it. I just see blood drops appear and find I've sliced myself again. Last time the knife was in my pocket, folded and locked. I somehow got the skin on the side of my index finger snagged on the point of the knife as I reached into my pocket. I think I need to cut a few cinder blocks to make it a bit safer.

Actually, I will have my friend the jeweler/knife sharpener take a look at it to see if the sharpness can be toned down a bit without making it a butter knife. Not sure what he's done with my other knives, but they come back very adequately sharp for working with but never this katana-level cut-head-off-in-one-swipe sharpness.

[dgaddis]

Update: The blade on this knife is so sharp I have now cut my hands 4 times without realizing it. I just see blood drops appear and find I've sliced myself again. Last time the knife was in my pocket, folded and locked. I somehow got the skin on the side of my index finger snagged on the point of the knife as I reached into my pocket. I think I need to cut a few cinder blocks to make it a bit safer.

Actually, I will have my friend the jeweler/knife sharpener take a look at it to see if the sharpness can be toned down a bit without making it a butter knife. Not sure what he's done with my other knives, but they come back very adequately sharp for working with but never this katana-level cut-head-off-in-one-swipe sharpness.

Don't dull it on purpose!! If you're cutting yourself while using it, that's your fault, just be more careful.

Cutting yourself while it's closed in your pocket? That's huge design flaw. You should not be able to cut yourself on a closed folding knife.

A sharp knife is a safe knife. Unless it cuts you while closed...

[j44ke]

Don't dull it on purpose!! If you're cutting yourself while using it, that's your fault, just be more careful.

Cutting yourself while it's closed in your pocket? That's huge design flaw. You should not be able to cut yourself on a closed folding knife.

A sharp knife is a safe knife. Unless it cuts you while closed...

Not dulling the knife. Making it rationally sharp. There is no reason to have a knife that sharp. I am getting cut without any pressure on the knife edge. If I am out working in the woods and the knife slips, I am going to take my entire thumb off, not just cut myself. I don't need a sword, and I am not using it for shaving.

It sliced a leather work glove just by drawing the blade across it.

[dgaddis]

Not dulling the knife. Making it rationally sharp. There is no reason to have a knife that sharp. I am getting cut without any pressure on the knife edge. If I am out working in the woods and the knife slips, I am going to take my entire thumb off, not just cut myself. I don't need a sword, and I am not using it for shaving.

It sliced a leather work glove just by drawing the blade across it.

I mean...don't put the edge on stuff you don't want to cut haha. You may want to pick up a more outdoorsy knife for doing work in the woods. With the shape of the handle on that knife and the lack of any texturing it's inherently slippery, fine for 'normal' edc stuff but not so great for harder use. Something like a Spyderco PM2 would be a better fit.

Spyderco Paramilitary 2 Knife - Black G-10 | Satin | Blade HQ

[mzilliox]

Update: The blade on this knife is so sharp I have now cut my hands 4 times without realizing it. I just see blood drops appear and find I've sliced myself again. Last time the knife was in my pocket, folded and locked. I somehow got the skin on the side of my index finger snagged on the point of the knife as I reached into my pocket. I think I need to cut a few cinder blocks to make it a bit safer.

Actually, I will have my friend the jeweler/knife sharpener take a look at it to see if the sharpness can be toned down a bit without making it a butter knife. Not sure what he's done with my other knives, but they come back very adequately sharp for working with but never this katana-level cut-head-off-in-one-swipe sharpness.

awesome knife, and wow, thats sharp. whats with you and sharp knives anyway? werent you talking about getting cut by kitchen knives too? haha

[j44ke]

awesome knife, and wow, thats sharp. whats with you and sharp knives anyway? werent you talking about getting cut by kitchen knives too? haha

Yeah those are sharp too - the Japanese ones. Take a fingernail off no problem. But this one is perhaps sharper. I think I could literally shave with it.

One thing that needs doing is reshaping the point. It should have more of a drop. Too "up". It is within the sides of the handle when folded, but the tip should be curved more downward so it is guarded better by the upper rear bolt.

I'll post photos after it gets reworked. It is a great knife, besides the blood loss. Worth fine tuning.

[Chris Chesebro]

I have a CRKT Squid pocket knife and it is a blunt nosed knife. I really like it as a tool, but that means it does a lot of things not having to do with cutting or slicing. I kind of grub around with it, dig here and there, pry, etc. but the blade stays nice and sharp so I can cut whatever I need to. But I would like some length to it, especially if I was getting a fixed blade knife, because what I am cutting and the blade and my hand are all just a bit too close together. Eric Estlund has one he calls a Foraging Knife, which is sort of the perfect descriptor and looks like what I envision I would want - a foraging knife.

Photo taken from Eric's Winter Cutlery website, without permission so hope he doesn't mind.

I have this one exactly, early run from Eric - I use it constantly.

It comes with me on vacation as a catch all kitchen knife too.

Can't recommend it enough.

[Matthew Strongin]

Picked this up a while ago and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. I can see why it's such a popular model. I usually prefer shorter blades, but the Benchmade 940 is pretty much ergonomically perfect.



I also realized that since the last time I posted about not needing an Inkosi, a couple of special events and gifts landed me a pair of them. I'll post photos in a bit.

[Paul Jacobs]

Maybe these are too modestly priced to come into the gentleman's pocket knife category. Let's call them (I bought two) well-made, good value artisan's knives. From the highly-rated power tool maker Festool, of stainless steel with olivewood sides and locking blade, these cost about £14 each (say $19) in the UK.

Festool KN-FT1

[vertical_doug]

https://www.purdey.com/gun-scroll-folding-knife





https://www.purdey.com/folding-damas...ock-camel-bone

i like the camel bone

[dgaddis]

I’ve found the perfect pocket knife. So much so I’ve sold or gifted my others. Quiet Carry Waypoint. Vanax steel (M390 edge retention and LC200N corrosion resistance), titanium scales, LC200N lockbar, deep carry wire clip, and an amazing blade. 0.09” thick stick with a hollow grind - it is super thin behind the edge. It’s also small in the pocket, which is always nice.

Matt - if you like the 940, pick up one of these. Similar shape to the 940 with a blade that actually cuts. The geometry of the 940 blade just isn’t great, mine was more of a wedge than a cutting tool.

[Matthew Strongin]

Those get excellent reviews from everything I’ve watched or read. Glad to hear you like it. Vanax sounds awesome. Some of my favorite knives are M390, but the corrosion resistance would be welcomed for a no worries knife in salty Florida.

My current favorite is a recently acquired TRM Atom. The action out of the box feels like it’s perfectly broken in. Quick stropping of the blade and it is literally razor sharp.

[dgaddis]

Those get excellent reviews from everything I’ve watched or read. Glad to hear you like it. Vanax sounds awesome. Some of my favorite knives are M390, but the corrosion resistance would be welcomed for a no worries knife in salty Florida.

My current favorite is a recently acquired TRM Atom. The action out of the box feels like it’s perfectly broken in. Quick stropping of the blade and it is literally razor sharp.

An Atom was my main pocket knife for a year, it's great. I had a Neutron before and liked a lot about it, it just didn't fit my hand great. My only complaint with the Atom really is it's a bigger knife, not huge by any margin, but bigger than I need certainly. The Waypoint is noticeably smaller in the pocket, tho the Atom has better ergonomics. And you're right, they have the best factory edge of any knife I've owned, easily. The Wayponit factory edge was okay, but not great, but I've since corrected that.

For a heavier duty option, a few months ago I picked up a Spydiechef. I have to say...it's great. Great ergos, very useful shaped blade, and super super smooth action (the waypoint is a smidge smoother tho I would say). The knives I now own:

Waypoint - daily carry
Spydiechef - if I want something heavier duty (like when I was tearing down part of my deck recently to pull a hot tub out)
Native 5 Salt - this one is interesting.

Even tho all three are totally corrosion resistant, that's really more by coincidence than anything else on the first two - I bought them because of the design, not because of the corrosion resistance. It's a nice perk, but it's not why I got them.

The Native is the opposite of what I want in a daily carry knife. It's bright ass yellow, no deep carry clip, lockback is super secure but not the quickest to open and close, and the blade is thicker than I need. But, I don't use it as a daily, it's kept in my tacklebox. For a day out on the river fishing, it's great. The scales are crazy grippy even with fish-slime covered hands, no worries with corrosion, amazing ergonomics, and if I set it down on a rock I won't forget it's there thanks to those yellow scales. I nearly lost a titanium knife this summer when I set it down, forgot about it, and then kicked it, thankfully it didn't quite make it to the water haha.

I modified the Spydiechef a bit, I reduced the 'hump' on the spine of the blade behind the tip to make a bit better piercer. It's a subtle change, but noticeable in use for sure.

Pimp stock.


More pointy.


Native on the river.


My Atom with the orange canvas micarta scales after sanding them to get rid of the slick factory finish. They darkened up a ton since this pic was taken. Thanks to their limited availability I sold it for nearly what I paid for it even after a year of carry and use.

[Matthew Strongin]

Snip...

A Native 5 with a compression lock would be near the top of my list for daily use. I've got the blue S110v variant and love it. I don't mind the lock back, but prefer the compression lock. The stock clip sucks, but that's a Spyderco standard. I put an MXG Gear moderately deep carry on mine and it made a huge difference. Now I don't really have any complaints about it other than the lock, but that's not really a huge deal. You could also try dying those yellow scales if you're not loving how bright they are.

The Atom is definitely on the larger side for an edc, but it's so slim that I don't mind it. I have smaller hands and would probably love the Neutron 2. We'll see if I can nab one on the next run.

[dgaddis]

A Native 5 with a compression lock would be near the top of my list for daily use. I've got the blue S110v variant and love it. I don't mind the lock back, but prefer the compression lock. The stock clip sucks, but that's a Spyderco standard. I put an MXG Gear moderately deep carry on mine and it made a huge difference. Now I don't really have any complaints about it other than the lock, but that's not really a huge deal. You could also try dying those yellow scales if you're not loving how bright they are.

The Atom is definitely on the larger side for an edc, but it's so slim that I don't mind it. I have smaller hands and would probably love the Neutron 2. We'll see if I can nab one on the next run.

Yeah, I actually like the yellow scales for outdoor use. You have to try really hard to lose it haha.